Mind the Gap
by The Quattro
Summary: X FILES: Mulder gets hit over the head and now he thinks he's 5. Sorry for the crap summary. MSR Fluff
1. Oh Shit

_OMG Another story!! Soryy about the wait. I promised my self if I ever wrote anything longer than 2 chapters, I would complete it before I posed it. So here is chapter 1. And I know its not an original title. I jiust liked it better than "The Day Mulder Lost His Brain". If anything is wrong about it, any British stuff in there, just say, coz I won't know (I'm Scottish, see :D). I have only seen 1 episode with Doggett and Reyes (Exisitance - so cute :D) so if they are wrong, sorry :(_

_Any suggestions, just say as well. They won't go in this story, but if I get any good ones, I'll make a sort of deleted scenes. _

_Right, enough about me. Enjoy! (Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer, blah, blah, blah)_

* * *

"Do you think they'll catch this guy?" Reyes asked before taking another whack at the punching bag. She and Agent Scully were in the FBI training gym. It was coming up for 23:30. It was brilliant at this time, because no-one was around. You just said that your partner was you ride home and you had to wait for them to come back and viola'! One empty gym late at night all for yourself (or anyone else who used this excuse at the same time).

"Nope. They'll have a few drinks and nab some poor dumbass of the street. Most likely, said poor dumbass will have done something wrong anyway." Scully replied, breathily. She was on the running machine. In her high heels (Well, what else does she wear with Mulder on cases?).

Mulder and Doggett had left roughly two hours ago. Skinner had called in some favours from them. So they were off looking for someone connected to a case in a pub. Doggett had gladly accepted, since Skinner said the magic words "Just put it on my tab". Mulder had "grudgingly" agreed to go along with him, although it didn't take much convincing. Scully was just thinking about how cute he looked when he was pretending to be disgruntled, when her phone rang. "Scully."

"Uhm...hi Agent Scully. It's Doggett here."

"Hi Doggett." Reyes looked up from battering the bag at the mention of his name. When he didn't answer, Scully's face fell. She stopped running and turned off the machine. "Is... everything ok?"

"Well...I'm fine..."

"And what about Mulder?"

"Um...he's fine too...kinda..."

"What do you mean 'kinda'?"

"Just come up to Skinners office. You'll see what I mean."

* * *

Scully was utterly confused. Her instincts were so maternal, yet she wanted to stand and gawp at him. Mulder was sitting on Skinners couch, huddled into a ball, crying his eyes out as though he were 5. She decided to go with the parental instincts, and went over to put her arm around him, hushing him quiet. She looked up at Doggett. "What in the hell happened?"

"We got jumped. Some bloke smashed a bottle over his head and threw another one at me. Obviously, I dodged it." He stuck his chest out proudly, hoping Monica would be impressed. When she didn't react, he sheepishly went back to his story. "Anyway, they ran off before I could see them clearly. He was out cold, so I brought him here. At least _he_ was still in his office." He gestured to Skinner, who was standing next to him, arms folded across his chest. "He came round when he was on the couch, started sniffing. The next thing we knew, he was bawling his eyes out. We haven't been able to get near him and we can't get any sense out him either." His arms were now folded across his chest too, and he was looking scornfully down on Mulder. Mulder had stopped crying now, but his head was buried into Scully's jacket and he was shaking. Blood ran down the back off his head in a slow, thin line. Scully checked it out; there didn't seem to be any permanent damage. But the way he was acting...this wasn't like Mulder at all. _Well, if he's going to act like he's 5, I'll treat him like he's 5 _She decided.

"Fox? Sweetheart? You Ok? What's wrong?" She sat beside him and pulled him across her lap for a better hug, which he let her. He sniffled pathetically.

"Head...hurts." He mumbled quietly. He even sounded like a 5 year old. Something was wrong here. So Scully asked the 65 thousand dollar question.

"How old are you Mulder?"

He sniffled and looked at his hands. After a good 10 seconds he held his right hand as though he was expecting a high-five. "This many."

Scully looked up to Skinner, Doggett and Reyes. Doggett's mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide.

"Oh Shit."


	2. Shiney Head

_Ok, Only been a few hours since I last posted, and a pretty good hit rating so far :D Thank you all for your lovely reviews. Made me smile (which is good, coz I've had a crappy week) Thanks to Fictionnaire for_ _correcting the Doggett thing._

_Sorry about my atroshus spelling (see. SEE!!) Should mostly be fluff_

(reference to a line in my last XF story, which Mulder says something about "SKIN MAN WASHES THAT SHINNY HEAD OF HIS!!")

* * *

Mulder sat happily on the med bay table. His arms were leaning across his lap, his fingers interlocking, while his legs swung of the edge of the table. It seemed that the longer he swung his legs, the calmer he became and the bigger his smile got, especially when he looked right at Scully. She could only smile back. It was infectious. It was amazing to see him so relaxed, so innocent. There was such a difference in him, although that could have been to do with the fact that he thought he was 5 years old and had a lolly. It was hard to tell. His eyes searched the large med bay, the lolly stick pointing out of his mouth.

"So, are you feeling better?" She asked in a gentle tone. Mulder nodded and grinned broadly. Scully let out a small laugh.

"Good. Now, do you know who I am?"

Mulder thought for a minute, then shook his head.

"Ok, just call me Scully"

"OK Scaly...sulky... sc..." Mulder's brow furrowed as he tried ever so hard to say Scully, concentrating with everything he had. But his mouth just wouldn't let him. The word just came up his throat, and promptly melted on his tongue like it was made of sherbet.

"How about Dana? That easier?"

"Dana...yup!" He grinned at his own ability to get her name right, which made Scully giggle.

"Scully, what are you going to do with him? You can't just send him home alone, not in his condition." This was Skinner.

"Well...I'll just take him home with me." Scully continued to check over Mulder.

"Are you sure?" Skinner was about to say more, when he noticed that Mulder was giggling at him. It wasn't the fact that he was laughing at him for some unknown reason, it was the fact that he was giggling. So un-Mulder like. "What?" He eventually asked.

"Hehe...shiny." Mulder pointed to Skinner's head. Under the medical lights, it did have an incredible shine to it. Even Scully had to laugh.

"Even when he's freakin' 5... ALWAYS with the head!" Skinner threw up his arms in annoyance and stormed out the room.

* * *

Scully turned the key in the lock and led Mulder inside. His eyes widened in wonder at her apartment, and he excitedly began to explore. Scully just laughed and left him to it, walking over to her room to get changed and look out a pair of pj's for Mulder (What? He doesn't have clothes at her place? I doubt it wink ).

* * *

"MULDER!!" Scully yelled. She had been looking for him for the past ten minutes, but she couldn't find him. It scared her quite a bit to know that he was tall enough to open the door, and therefore he could be out wandering the streets. A grown man with the mentality of a 5 year old wandering the streets late at night was not a good combination. Especially if he had a gun. Scully's stomach flipped as she ran to her room to check that her gun was still in its holster, which it was. One less thing to worry about, as his had been taken off him by Doggett. She frantically searched the whole apartment until she opened her cupboard door. There, sitting on the floor with Scully's jacket pressed to his face, was Mulder, sound asleep. He was just so adorable. He looked a bit like he did way back when they had investigated the disappearance of Colonel Budahas, and he had his brain wiped. Their second case. His hair was sticking up and messy and his mouth was slightly open to allow easy breathing. Scully just wanted to leave him in peace, but she knew if she did he would moan and complain about terrible back ache in the morning. So she hooked his crossed arms (still clutching the jacket) over her head and dragged him over to her bed, setting him down gently.

_Damn, you're heavy Mulder. As soon as you're back to your old self, you're joining a gym. _Scully sighed and slipped out of his arms. Standing up, though, her back gave a loud crack and she bent right back over.

_Great, _She thought. _Now I've got back ache._


	3. Nightmares

_Wow, I'm doing pretty well with this updated daily thing so far :D Quite a short one for today, I think._

_A little bit angsty, and sad. Sorry bout that. Will be more fluff later to make up for it _

_Reviews are always apreciated_

* * *

It was 2am. The city outside almost quiet, apart from the occasional passing car. The soft glow from the moon lit the apartment where Scully had forgotten to close the curtains. The apartment itself was quiet. Only one thing was moving. A large male shadow crept across the room to the couch, where Scully was lying, arm draped down to the floor, sleeping peacefully. He almost reconsidered his actions, but when he looked back through to where the bedroom was, and saw how dark and daunting it appeared, he decided it was the right thing to do.

"Dana?...Dana?" Mulder tapped Scully's arm cautiously as though he would get in trouble for waking her.

"Hmm. Huh? Mulder?" Scully groaned slightly, and rolled onto her side sleepily to face him. He was on his knees beside the couch where she had been sleeping. She was almost about to scorn him for disturbing her, but when she saw the terrified look in his eyes she was immediately overcome with concern for her partner and best friend. "What's wrong?" She asked, sitting up fully.

"I can't sleep. I keep having nightmares." He muttered quietly, and bowed his head in shame.

She lifted his chin up. "Do you want me to come through with you for a while?" Scully couldn't help but smile as he nodded while pouting. "Come on then." She held out her hand for him and led him back to the bedroom. Mulder climbed under the covers, and Scully crawled under beside him. "So, do you remember what the dreams were about?"

Mulder nodded. "There was a boy. I don't know his name. But he was only a baby. And he was in trouble. There were these men, bad men, who wanted to take him away. Something about tests... I'm not sure. And I could see it all, but I couldn't do anything. All I know is that it hurt right here." He pointed to his heart. Scully bit her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Yeah. I know. I have that dream too." She pulled him into a hug and sat there with him curled up in her arms.

"What's his name?"

"William. His name was- IS William."

They were both silent for a few moments, wallowing in the hurt and pain that subconsciously filled their hearts and minds.

"Will it ever go away?" Mulder eventually muttered sadly into her neck.

"No. And it will never stop hurting either. But you learn to deal with it." Scully choked, tears threatening to fall.

"Make it go away Dana. Please." His tiny whimper, a small cry for help, was almost enough to break Scully. But she was stronger than that.

"Hey, I'm here. Don't worry. By tomorrow, you'll have forgotten all about it. I promise." She kissed the top of his head. "I love you."

But her words fell on deaf ears, as Mulder had drifted off to sleep. So she just laid there, Mulder sleeping on her chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart beating against his ribcage, her fingers threaded into his thick hair, his breath catching stray strands of hair and blowing them back over her shoulder, until she too fell asleep.

And that's how they lay for the rest of the night.


	4. The Juice Box Incident

_Thanks for all the lovely comments. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling :D No more angst for this one! But there is a bit of Doggett shouting and Mulder crying. But its cute (in my head at the very least)_

* * *

"Sir?" Agent Doggett knocked on Skinners door peered inside. Skinner looked up.

"What is it Agent Doggett?"

"You haven't heard from-?" Was all he managed to ask before Skinner cut him off.

"No, I haven't. But she should be in with Mulder soon. She's never usually late." Just at that moment Scully walked into the office with Mulder in tow.

"Sorry I'm late; I had to get him a Juice Box."

They all looked to Mulder, standing there in his "Knicks" shirt, a pair of jeans and a baseball cap on backwards, who did indeed have a juice box, and was happily sucking every last drop out the carton while watching them all with wide eyes and a look of what can only be described as child-like fascination.

"O...k." Skinner turned back to Scully. "Does he still think he's...you know..."

"A five year old?" Skinner nodded. "Yeah, he does. But he's very well behaved." Scully smiled to Mulder, who beamed at her with such pride and confidence that only a kid could muster. After which he wandered over to the couch and sat down, looking over the files that had been left there.

"Sir, do you think it's a good idea to have him here?" Doggett piped up. Scully glared at him.

"What else am I supposed to do with him? I can't just leave him alone now, can I?"

"Why not? He's what? 35?"

"Physically, yes. But mentally... And that's _another_ reason not to leave him alone. He can reach all the high cupboards with the medicine and other stuff in it. Who knows what would happen to him if he ate all that stuff?!" Scully was yelling now.

Doggett was almost about to retaliate, when the sound of something falling onto paper, followed quickly by the sound of something leaking, made him stop dead in his tracks. _No, please, no. Don't let him have done that. Anything but that._ Slowly, he turned his head. There was Mulder, still sitting on the couch, eyes wide in shock. The juice box was no longer in his hands. Instead, it was on the files, and steadily spilling all over them, ruining them for good. Doggett could have cried. His reports, the ones that he had spent hours on, were gone. Just like that. Suddenly his eye began to twitch unconrtolably.

"YOU!" He yelled at Mulder who turned his head. Scully could see his bottom lip beginning to quiver.

"Doggett." Scully warned, but he wouldn't listen. Instead he advanced on the terrified Mulder.

"YOU!" He yelled again, only louder.

"Sir." Scully prompted Skinner into doing something.

"Doggett calm down." Skinner put his hand on Doggett's shoulder, but it was shrugged off.

"YOU RUINED MY REPORTS!! YOU IDIOT!! HOW CAN YOU NOT HOLD A CARTON?!"

Mulder really was on the verge of tears, when Scully decided that was it. "DOGGETT!" She yelled at him. He turned.

"WHAT?!"

"Stop it! Look what you're doing to him!"

Doggett turned back to Mulder. And instead of seeing the idiot he had done a few seconds ago, he saw images of his son, Luke, at five, when he had spilled juice on the carpet. He sighed. "I'm sorry Fox. I didn't mean it. I was just...angry."

Mulder sniffed and muttered something Doggett strained to hear. "What's that?"

"...My shoes hurt."


	5. 10 Dollars Worth of Candy

_I really am getting good at this :D Enjoy_

* * *

"Uncle Skinner?"

It took Walter Skinner at least 5 minutes to realise that he was being spoken to. It was still an oddity for him; being called 'Uncle Skinner' by a man who had attacked him and vice versa. It wasn't an unpleasant thing; he liked the idea of being 'Uncle Skinner'; it was just weird to hear it from Mulder.

"What is it?"

"I'm hungry."

"Oh...well you know what? So am I. Why don't we go upstairs and get a sandwich or something?"

Mulder thought for a minute. "Ok."

* * *

"YOU GAVE HIM WHAT?!" Scully yelled at Skinner.

"I just gave him some money to go to the vending machine. He didn't want any of the sandwiches and he was hungry." The Assistant Director shrugged.

"How much did you give him?" Reyes asked.

"10 dollars." Every single person in the room gawped at him. "What?"

"You gave him 10 dollars?"

"I didn't have change."

They all looked at Mulder. He sat at his desk; eyes wide spinning round and round and round as fast as the swivel chair would go screaming "WHEE!" at the top of his voice. Doggett had learned from his time with Luke that 10 worth of sweets and a swivel chair do not mix well, so he gripped the chair, stopping it dead in its tracks, and gently pushed it in the other direction, so that Mulder wouldn't fall over when he tried to stand up.

Which he did anyway.

Scully pulled him up and sat him back on the chair, holding it so that he couldn't start again. Suddenly, Mulder spoke up. "IWANNADOSOMTHINCRAZY!!"

"What did he say?" Skinner asked.

"He said 'I wanna do somthin crazy!!'" Reyes replied, her arms folded across her chest. Everyone looked at her. "What? I used to be a police officer. I've worked with people who are far harder to understand than a hyper active 35 year old who thinks he's a seventh of his age."

Doggett just nodded. He didn't doubt that. He himself had come across some crazy ass people in New York.

Scully turned back to Mulder. "Something crazy. Like...what?"

Mulder's eyes were still wide, as his gaze darted about the room, his breath coming in short pants, like a dog after a long run. "I WANNA RUN WITH SCISSORS!!"

Skinner nodded. "Ok."

"NO!" Scully scolded the man. "No. He can't run with scissors." She caught Mulder's attention. "What if you fall and hurt yourself?"

His face fell, and Scully had to bite her bottom lip hard to keep from grinning at how sweet he looked. "But...but...that's not fun!"

"No, its not." Scully smiled. "Why don't we go home? You can watch TV, or go to bed or something?"

"Can we stay a bit longer, so Uncle Doggett can tell me a story?" They both looked up at Doggett, who shrugged and nodded in response.

"Hey, why not?"

"Yay!" Mulder grinned wildly, and they all just had to laugh at him. "I wanna hear the one about the Jesus Moths!"

* * *

_Never usually do this but hey! The Jesus Moths thing, is reference to an Ashes to Ashes story I did called **Uncle Ray told me a story he shouldn't**. Reading that will make more sense, but you dan't have to. Just understand its a bad story for a five year old._


	6. Um, How'd I get here?

_Sadly, we are at an end :(_

_Its probably quite bad but its the only way I could think of a fluffy ending :D_

_There IS another thing on the way. Promise. Might even be up tonight if I can be bothred_

* * *

"Time to go home, don't you think?" Mulder looked up at Scully with a look of horror.

"But...But...I wanna stay here!" He pouted.

"Mulder, you've been up since 8 this morning, you'll be tired."

" I'm not tired." And Scully would have believed him, had he not just contradicted his statement by yawning loudly.

"Oh really?" Scully laughed.

"Maybe just a bit." He sighed sleepily

She just smiled at him, helping him up and out to the car.

* * *

Scully was awoken the next morning by someone poking her side gently. She looked over to see Mulder kneeling at the side of the couch, head resting on his hand, absentmindedly prodding her. He smiled up at her as she turned to face him. "Hey sleepyhead."

Scully was stunned. He sounded...normal.

"Mulder-" The man in question cut her off.

"Any ideas as to how I got here?" Scully just threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly round his neck. Now it was Mulder's turn to be stunned. "Well, it's not the answer I was hoping for, but I'll take it!" He grinned and pulled her up on to his lap as he sat sown on the couch. After a good few minutes of silent hugging, Scully pulled back to look at him. She noticed a lump beginning to form on his fore head. Gently, she ran her fingers over it, but stopped when he hissed slightly.

"How did you get that?"

Mulder pointed to the lump. "That?" She nodded. "I think that must have happened this morning coz I woke up on the floor. I bet it was Greys trying to abduct me. They musta lost interest in me. You know what; I'm kinda insulted by that." He laughed at the thought of it, how stupid it sounded and how it didn't make sense at all. Scully just smiled at him. It was good to have her old, stupid, Spooky Mulder back.


End file.
